New ideas, templates, and tournaments!

First, something needs to be done with the intermediate locations between opponents in the Fresh start. You can end up losing before you even get to fight. In short, the current template forces you to focus on grinding rather than searching for opponents.

On 8mm6, there are 3 zones between opponents, and encounters often happen in the first week or early in the second week, but they can also happen much later. I don't consider this a major advantage, as the map layout has a significant impact on the balance of the factions. For example, I don't know which faction can fight a Tavern faction with its native troops on day 121, especially since by the end of the second week, the Tavern faction starts to fall behind the others and is generally considered the weakest.
So, maybe 4 zones are not so bad after all.